Family Is More Than Blood
by NerfHerderNerfherder
Summary: Master Ferre gets a padawan. The padawan, Cecily Vani, is a rude but quiet girl, scarred by her memories. Her legion, while not completely getting along with her, does everything they can to make sure that she realizes that their family goes beyond their blood, especially in war.
1. A Padawan

**This is a work of fan fiction. Most of the characters are OC, but I might add some of the main characters in as well. I do not own the Star Wars Universe, and I want to see George Lucas write a fan fiction. This story takes place in the Clone Wars.**

:-

* * *

Today was the day. I had applied for a padawan a month ago, and the council finally accepted. They were sending the padawan today. I had no idea what he or she would be like, as the council refused to give me any information. So I had no idea what to tell the clones either.

I was in the training room at the barracks, as well as most of the legion. There were a few clones in the barracks, resting after the last mission. It was mostly the medics though. I debated over calling them to the training room to meet the new addition to the Falcon Company for a while, until I finally went up to the captain.

"Captain Kyle." I greeted him.

Looking over from his target practice, he saw me and stood at attention. "General Ferre."

"No matter how many times I tell you not to, you won't give up on formalities in the training room will you?" I asked, amused.

Relaxed now, the captain laughed. "No sir. Now what did you need me for?"

I looked at my chrono. It was almost 1400, which meant my new padawan would be arriving soon. "There is going to be a… new addition to the Falcon Company at 1400. I need your advice on calling the absent men to the training room."

Thinking about it, he turned around and fired a couple of shots at the target. Apparently it kept him clear headed. Turning back around, he answered. "I think it would be in their best interest to meet the new addition." Putting his helmet on, he sent out the message to the men in the training room.

I lifted my wrist up and spoke into my comm, sending the message out on an open line. The clone quickly responded and were at the training room at 1355. I continued my training for a few minutes before standing up straight and looking at the door. I motioned for the troopers to get in formation.

When the padawan still wasn't there after 10 minutes, I checked my chrono. 1407, they should've been here 7 minutes ago. Where are they?

* * *

:-

I peered down from the rafters, trying to judge the distance to the ground. I had fallen asleep up there, waiting for 1400. Unfortunately, I slept too long. My new master looked worried, probably because I was nowhere to be found. I had climbed up here an hour ago, trying to gauge the clones' skills. And of course, I had to fall asleep.

Finally deciding that it wasn't too far of a jump, I climbed over to the back of the room and jumped down behind my new master. Making sure to walk silently and keep my force presence dim, I walked up behind Master Ferre and stopped.

Keeping my face dead serious, I waited for Master Ferre to realize I was here. The clones weren't doing too good of job at keeping it a secret, most of them chuckling.

"What are you laughing at, troopers." He asked, seeming rather confused.

I glared at the group of clones. "Just laughing at your face sir." A clone with purple triangles on his helmet said. He was most likely the captain. From what I could tell, he was a good shot, but not too big on fitness. Master Ferre shrugged, then looked back at the door.

It was another 10 minutes before Master Koth flew in the door. My eyes widened, and I jumped back up to the rafters before he could see me. He was supposed to bring me here, but of course, I wasn't where I said I would be. Which was at the entrance to the temple. Oops.

"Have you seen Cecily Vani around here?" Master Koth asked, rather flustered. The clones, as well as Master Ferre looked confused. "Dark red hair, blue eyes, Jedi robes?"

"Nope. Haven't seen a single hair." Master Ferre replied. "I'm assuming she is to be my new padawan?"

"Yes. She was supposed to meet me outside the temple, but at 1345 she wasn't there." Master Koth said. "Anyway, if she does wonder here on her own, please tell her that I am not pleased."

"Will do, Koth." Master Ferre replied.

While this whole thing was going on, I took the opportunity to look around the training room. The ceiling wasn't too high, thankfully it was only about 20 feet up. There was a boxing ring in the center, and fitness machines towards the front. The shooting range took up most of the back, except for a small water station. They evidently didn't want someone to get accidently shot in the head as they came in the door.

When I looked back up from my observations, I saw that Master Koth was gone and it was safe to come down. I jumped back down and took up my previous position. Giving a nod to the triangle helmeted trooper, I slowly released my hold on my force presence.

"Sir, you might want to look behind you." He suggested.

Master Ferre turned around and smirked. "Am I right in guessing who you are?"

"Cecily Vani, your new padawan." I said, and gave him a quick bow.

"Well then Cecily, welcome to the 328th legion." He said, and I turned to face the clones.

* * *

:-

"Wait, wait, wait. That's the new commander?" One of my troopers stepped out disbelievingly.

I looked to the general, who just nodded.

"But she's just a kid! And a girl, for that matter." The trooper continued. Fish was known for being dramatic, but this was over the top.

Again, I looked to the general. He motioned for me to wait, as it seems that the commander was about to do something. And she did something all right.

At first she just kind of glared at Fish, keeping the rest of her face stoic. Then she reached out and in a matter of seconds Fish was halfway across the room, floating upside-down.

The commander walked over to him until she was about 5 inches away from his face. "You know, it's always interesting to see by what bounds people misjudge any sort of Jedi. You, trooper, have surpassed my expectations in a bad way."

She was about to drop him, when he just had to make a remark. "And you, kid, are clearly not fit to be giving orders, with your anger issues and all." Fish said. Before anyone could even tell what was going to happen, Fish was slammed against the back wall.

"Now Master, I believe that I have training to do." And with that, the commander walked out of the room, followed by an extremely amused general.

"I suggest you troopers help Fish, his ego might have been wounded." I tell my troops, and we quickly fell back to training.

* * *

 **:-**

 **Please, please, please keep reading! It starts out slow, I know that, but it will get better. I promise!**


	2. The Training

This is a work of clone wars fanfiction. OCs mostly. I do not own Star Wars.

* * *

As soon as I left the training room, I turned to Cecily. "Master Koth was not very pleased with you." I tell her.

She shrugs, not looking particularly bothered. "He never is, not really anyway." She replies.

"That stunt you pulled on Fish was impressive, although very impulsive. You need to learn to control that." I tell her, doing my best to keep up conversation. She's not exactly the friendliest person on Coruscant.

"I know." She replies before falling quiet. She seemed to be content with observing the surroundings.

"So you were up on the rafters the whole time?" I asked, rather amazed. Not many people could balance on the thin beams that ran across the ceiling.

"Yeah, I fell asleep about an hour before I was supposed to meet you. I then woke up a little before Master Koth came in." She replied.

"Not many people could sit on the rafters, let alone sleep on them." I said, hoping to get at least a half-smile from her.

No such luck. "Well, I like high places. And besides, Master Koth said I have the balance of a lothcat." She said, still very serious and guarded.

I stared at her, trying to figure out how a 13 year old could be so emotionless. Maybe she was upset about what happened with Fish. "Look, I'm sorry about Fish. He can be a bit overwhelming at times." I tell her.

She just looks at me and shrugs. "I'm not upset over anything, I just prefer to be quiet."

I frown. There is something off about her, but I let the conversation fall flat.

After looking at ends upon ends of identical doors, it was a relief when we got to my quarters. As I opened the door I turned to Cecily and grinned.

"These, are your new quarters." We both stepped into the room and thankfully I had remembered to clean it. "Your room is the first door to the left, and the 'fresher is opposite."

"Thank you." Was all she uttered before she left, probably to find her room.

I sat down and waited, trying to meditate. I got about 5 minutes in before I heard a very loud

"KRIFF!"

Cecily came rushing in the room 2 seconds later. Just before she left the room I stopped her.

"First of all young lady, watch your language. Second of all, where are you going?" I sked.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot everything back at the dorm." She said. I nodded.

"I'll come with you." I was actually fairly interested in seeing the difference between the dorm rooms now and the dorm rooms when I was a youngling.

As it turned out, there wasn't a difference. You'd think they would update the rooms once in a while, but nope. It was still the same gray common room with stairs to the left and right.

"Okay, just give me a second to grab my bag." Cecily said as she ran up the stairs to the right.

I shrugged and sat in the common room.

* * *

 _Where is it?_ That bag had everything important in it. My lightsaber, the hanging supports, everything! And now I can't find it! As I was just about to give up, I saw it. It was under the bed, of all places. I quickly grabbed it and went back downstairs.

Upon getting downstairs, I saw my new master talking to Master Koth. Moving closer, I cleared my throat. "Master, I got my bag."

"Okay. It was good taking to you Koth." My new master said.

"And you, Ferre." Master Koth replied.

We turned out of the room and went back to our quarters. I opened up my bag and pulled out my lightsaber, leaving it on the table.

Master looked confused, so I explained. "I'm trying not to forget it. I have to do one thing, and then I should be ready to begin training."

He nodded and I went to my room. As soon as I got there I quickly got to work. I was going to make a hammock out of the bedsheets, and I needed the supports to do so.

I got out my super strong glue as well as a couple of nails. I attached to supports to the ceiling using them, then stripped the bed. I tied the corners of the sheets together, effectively creating a hammock, and strung it up on the supports. Jumping in it a couple of times, I decided it was strong enough. I then went back out to the main quarters.

"Okay, I'm ready." I announced.

"Good, we'll head down to the training center." He got up and walked out the door. I grabbed my lightsaber and followed.

When we got there he turned to me. "What have you gotten to with the remotes?" he sked.

I tried to think. "I'm pretty sure I can get 2 on hard, 3 on medium, and 6 on easy." I say.

"Well then let's start on easy." He said.

He started off with one. I got into the starting form for Soresu, my second favorite form, and waited. I was able to block every shot with up to 4 remotes, only get shot once or twice with 5, and an average amount on 6. Then he turned them off.

"So you did pretty well with that, but I'm assuming Soresu isn't your favored form." Master said.

I nodded. "I prefer Makashi, but that form isn't the best for blocking shots. It's more of a dueling form."

"Well then, I guess we have to duel to assess your strengths." He grinned and then got into the starting form for Ataru.

I sighed, then got into the starting form for Makashi. Master leapt at me, and I raised my blade to redirect his swing, and countered with a jab of my own which he easily parried. This went on for a few minutes until I was caught in a saber lock. I was easily overpowered, and I shut my lightsaber off.

"Your balance is incredible, as well as your control of the blade. The only problem is that you're not quite strong enough, and you don't quite see any openings left. From what I can remember, those are pretty important to Makashi." Master said.

I gave a curt nod. I don't take to criticism well.

"Now how about we try that again. And this time, look for openings in an attack." Master said.


	3. The Mission (1)

This is a work of fanfiction, I do not own Star Wars, and It takes place during the Clone Wars.

* * *

"So, you ready for your first real mission?" Master said. It had only been a couple days since I had become his padawan, which hopefully meant that the council wouldn't give us too hard of a mission.

"Let's see what it is first." I replied, waiting for the council to call us in.

It was barely a minute before they did. "Master Ferre and Padawan Vani, enter, you may." Yoda called out. For a little green being, he sure had a loud voice.

We hurried into the room, and stood in the center of the council.

"We have received notice that the Separatists have created a blockade around the Republic planet of Talravin. We have proof that Count Dooku could be planning an attack on the capital city in the next week. We need you to bring a couple squads of troops to bring aid to the people of Talravin, as well as protect the royal family." Master Windu said.

Master nodded. "How many people should I have with the royal family?" He asked.

"Probably 3 or 4 at one time. Otherwise it might seem like we were invading on their personal life." Master Kenobi's holograph said, stroking his beard.

"Then it is settled. You will go to Talravin with food, and help build walls, as well as protect the royalty." Master Windu said, as if there was any debate about it at all.

We bowed, then left.

"I would suggest you get packed before dinner." Master said once we were down the hall. "We leave at 2100."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm going to pack all ten things I have. That will take long time." I said.

Master laughed at my sarcasm. "Just for that, you get to guard the royal family for the time we're there."

"Whatever." I replied. "I honestly don't care."

Master laughed. "Okay." He said, raising his hands in surrender.

* * *

I watched as Cecily walked down the hall. I don't think she actually realizes how funny she is. Shaking my head, I switched to the mission. Meeting up with Captain Kyle was probably the best idea. I had to sort out the teams of people. Which could take a while.

I walked down the hall until I got to the landing bay. The Senate really should've put the barracks closer to the Temple. Sighing, I climbed in a speeder and drove to the barracks.

Upon arriving, I headed straight to the training room. Which the clones basically never leave.

"Captain!' I called out.

Kyle came out of a group around the shooting range. "Yes sir."

"We have a mission." I said. "Follow me."

I led him to the war room and set up the holo-table with a picture of Talravin. "The Council has suspicion that Count Dooku will be leading an attack on Talravin and its royal family within a week. We are going to go and help protect the royals and build walls and blockades." I said. "We need two clones to help Cecily protect the royals, and will take the rest to help protect the towns."

"Okay, so shouldn't we have the commander here to help? It is her first mission." Captain Kyle said.

"That is a good point." I said. I lifted up my comlink. "Cecily, we need you in the war room."

Her voice came back all staticed. "And how exactly am I supposed to get there? I'm not exactly allowed to drive yet."

I frowned. She was right. I couldn't send Captain Kyle to get her, I needed him here. Thinking about it a little longer, I finally came up with an answer.

"Okay, Cecily, I'm sending Fish to get you." I said. Then I called Fish before she could complain. "Fish, I need you to go get Cecily from the Temple. And make sure she gets to the war room safely."

"Okay sir." He said, his sarcasm evident. I'm pretty sure there are no two people in the world who hate each other as much as they do. It's absolutely hilarious. Smirking, I sat back and waited for them to get here.

* * *

Get the commander. Great. The general knows that this past week has been us arguing with each other, and now he sends me to go and pick her up. This day couldn't get any worse.

So, I drove over to the Jedi Temple where the commander was waiting outside. She scowled as I pulled up.

"I hope you realize that this was in no way my idea." She said.

"Of course not. Even you aren't idiotic enough to purposefully make sure we talk to each other." I snarled.

"That's no way to speak to your superior." Commander Vani said.

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly _Commander_ , you're no soldier, so stop pretending to be one." I said. She was beginning to get really annoying.

"You're right, I'm not a soldier. I'm a strategist." She practically spat out. "And a good strategy for you would be to stop insulting me!"

Luckily we managed to get to the barracks before the fight could continue. She hopped out of the speeder, and turned to me.

"You can leave me alone now." She turned around and started flouncing away.

"Actually verd'ika, I'm under orders to get you to the war room safely." I said.

She spun around. "If you must." Then she glared at me. "And I am not a little soldier."

I sighed and followed after her.

It wasn't long before we got to the war room. The Commander, with all of her flair, burst into the war room with a murderous expression on her face. I followed in behind.

"Here you go sir, the verd'ika, safe and sound." I said.

The commander glared at me again. "I told you, I am _not_ a little soldier." She snapped.

The general seemed quite amused. "Well, since you two have proven to get along very well, I think that you'll be joining the commander with protecting the royal family." He said. "And no arguing. You are dismissed trooper."

"This is your fault." Commander Vani mumbled.

I smirked and headed out to the training room.

* * *

"Since we only need one more person for the guard, I suggest you go eat some dinner then finish packing." I said to Cecily. "It'd about 2000 right now, so you have a standard hour before we have to leave."

Cecily nodded, still looking slightly murderous, and left the room.

"Okay sir, who should we send with them on the guard?" Kyle asked.

I thought about it. "Maybe Carrot, in case, you know, they try to kill each other." I said.

"Maybe, but he is our best field medic. We might need him in case were attacked by the Seppies." Kyle said.

I nodded. "That's probably a better idea." Then I thought of something else. "Are any of your men more of peace keepers than any others?"

"Well, Hill and Rock seem to get in less fights than the rest of them do." Kyle said thoughtfully.

"Are either of them good friends with Fish?" I asked. I knew that Cecily absolutely did not trust the clones, and for a good reason too. It didn't make any sense for her to friends with any of them.

"Hill seems to be on better relations with Fish than Rock is." Kyle replied.

"Okay, so we'll send Hill then. I don't want any extra fights breaking out." I said. "Now, as I told Cecily, It is almost time to go, so you should probably go organize your troops. I will send the docking bay number as soon as I find out."

Captain Kyle nodded, then saluted as he turned out the door. I nodded back and went to working on finding out which cruiser we were taking.

* * *

 **Talravin- a Republic planet found on Wookiepedia**

 **Verd'ika- little soldier, private (rank)**


	4. The Mission (2)

This is a work of Clone Wars fanfiction. I do not own the Clone Wars, or Star Wars.

Also, I don't particularly care if there is a mess hall on the cruisers, so don't bother with telling me it isn't, if it truly isn't.

* * *

Yawning, I tried to stretch out my back. Honestly, couldn't they make these beds a little bit more comfortable? Apparently not.

I looked at the chrono on my holopad. It was only 0500, about 3 hours before I normally woke up. Blinking away my sleepiness (I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep) I got up. Just as I went to go turn the 'fresher on, my stomach growled really loud. Great.

Abandoning the notion of taking a shower, I stumbled out of the room to the mess hall. It wasn't a long way from my bunk, but it seemed like it took forever to get there. Of course, I did make some wrong turns here and there. I had to make it look like I wasn't rushed though, so I had to slow down when passing a clone or Admiral Nyan. Which happened a surprising amount. So I was very out of breath by the time I got to the cafeteria.

There weren't many clones there that early, it was still about an hour before most woke up. I got on line for breakfast, and sat down near a wall once I got it. The food didn't look very appetizing, but I figured that appearances could be deceiving.

I was wrong. The food tasted terrible, like mold and dirt. I made a face, but luckily no one was looking at me. I quickly finished as much as I could handle, because even if tasted bad, it was food, and I stood up to throw the rest away.

I was heading out of the room when an incoming trooper grabbed my arm. I checked for my lightsaber. It wasn't there, and my brain instantly switched to danger, and I had to force myself to remain calm. I looked up at the trooper. He seemed only half awake.

"You're not a clone." He said, his words slurred.

"That would be correct." I answered, trying to keep myself from hyperventilating. "Now if you'd please let me go."

"You're not a clone, so who are you?" He finished, tightening his grip on my arm.

I lost it. I started hyperventilating. _In, out. In, out. In…_ I tried to remember the breathing techniques that Master Koth taught me. But I couldn't. I was too panicked, everyone was staring at me, and I…I couldn't. It felt too much like those years ago.

Instead of answering I gathered enough strength to wrench my arm from his grasp and ran.

I ran through the halls, not bothering to plan out where I was going. I ran as if I was in danger, because I thought I was.

Most people jumped out of my way, but I almost ran into one. I brushed past him, hearing his voice faintly call out my name, but I kept running. I finally got to a dark hallway and sat down against one of the walls. I put my head between my knees and tried to calm down my breathing.

* * *

I watched as Cecily sprinted past me. She seemed upset about something. From what I could gather, she didn't sprint unless she felt threatened, or was specifically told to. I checked for anyone who might be following after her, but no one came.

"Cecily!" I called after her, but she was already gone. I tried again through our force bond. _'Cecily!'_

No response. I became extremely worried. Suddenly I felt a spark of fear go through the force. That was most definitely Cecily. I tracked the outburst through tens of hallways, until I found it in a dark hallway. I walked down it, turning the lights on.

And there was Cecily, her head between her knees, hyperventilating. I was surprised for a moment. Ever since she had become my padawan, she had looked and acted like she had been in thousands of battles. Now, she looked like the 14 year old she was. And it scared the kriff out of me.

I cautiously approached her. "Cecily…"

She looked up and upon seeing me, immediately tried to revert to her normal guarded expression. It failed.

I sat down next to her. "What's wrong?" I asked, trying to figure out why she had run all the way here.

She looked at me and tears started welling up in her eyes. She opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. Instead, tears started streaming down her face.

Great. I had absolutely no idea how to handle this, and here she was, crying.

Trying to calm her, I hugged her while sending waves of comfort. "It's going to be okay, they're not here. They can't hurt you."

She whimpered. "I'm tired." She mumbled.

I checked my chrono. It was only 0530, of course she was tired. "Let's go back to your quarters, you can go back to sleep there."

She nodded. I helped her up and we started the walk back to her quarters. When we got there she climbed right into her bed. I pulled the covers round her.

"I'll send someone to keep an eye on you in a little bit. I have to talk to the admiral about battle plans." I told her. I didn't get a response so I looked back at her. She was already fast asleep. I smiled and closed the door.

As soon as I got out, I went to find someone she trusted. Unfortunately, there were not many people on this ship she trusted.

I was still looking around when Fish walked up to me. "Is the commander okay?" He asked. "I was in the cafeteria when she seemed to have panicked and fled."

"She should be fine now, I'm just looking for someone who can watch after her until I can." Replied. Then I had a thought. "Actually Fish, would you mind watching over her?"

"If you need me to." He replied, pretty confused. "But I'm pretty sure she doesn't trust me at all."

"That shouldn't be much of a problem. All you have to do is stand outside her door and try to calm her if she gets upset. I'll be back probably around 1000, so I can takeover if she isn't already awake." I replied.

"I guess I could." Fish replied. I said a quick thanks and started walking down the hallway, trying to find Admiral Nyan.

* * *

I walked in the direction that the general pointed me, trying to find the commander's quarters. I knew where the general's quarters were, so I figured that it would be near there. After coming to the door I thought was hers, I opened it a little bit to make sure. It was hers. So, I stood outside the door and waited.

It was a couple of hours before anything happened. Some of my brothers had passed by to talk to me, but not much else. It was then that I heard the commander sobbing, which soon turned into screaming.

I burst into her room. She was shaking uncontrollably, and was curled up into a ball. She looked so incredibly young in that moment that I did a double-take. I walked over to her side after clearing my head, and sat down.

I reached out to try and wake her up, but she shied away from my touch. I really wished I could use the force at that moment.

"Commander. Wake up." I said softly. She continued screaming. I shuddered. Whatever could have gotten the usually so guarded commander like this had to be bad. I tried again. "Verd'ika, please wake up."

"Fish?" She mumbled, opening her eyes a little bit. Upon confirming for herself that it was me, she sat up and curled into me. I was taken aback by her curling up into me. She wasn't screaming anymore, which was good, but she was silently sobbing. I awkwardly put an arm around her and patted her back.

A few seconds later, the General burst in, looking extremely worried.

"I came as soon as I could. Is she okay?" He breathed out.

I looked to the commander. "She seems to have fallen back to sleep, sir." I responded.

He sighed in relief. "Good. I can take over for now, I've sorted everything out with the Admiral." The general said.

I nodded, and started to leave. Suddenly I turned around. "Um, sir?"

"Yes, Fish?" The general was tucking the commander back in.

"What happened that was so bad?" I asked, cringing when I realized that I had in fact, asked it.

His look seemed to turn even more somber. "I think, I should let her tell you herself."

"Yes, sir." I said. I then turned around and walked out the door, and didn't ask any questions this time.


End file.
